Taking on the responsibility for patients based on a geographic region could help providers better generate financial savings, according to a new opinion piece in the Journal of the American Medical Association.

As federal legislation moves the system away from mandatory participation in payment reform, place-based partnerships may help accountable care organizations more efficiently provide value-based care, the authors from the Dartmouth Institute for Health Policy and Clinical Practice and the University of California, San Francisco’s Center for Health and Community.

Place-based partnerships involve assigning responsibility for entire populations living within a specific area such as a hospital-referral region or a state. This creates a radical shift in incentives for providers to collaborate with other regional entities, rather than compete, the authors said.